Real Estate

We handle a wide array of real estate issues for our business and individual clients. In connection with real estate purchases or sales, we review their draft agreements and create custom instruments when necessary to meet the needs of each transaction. We recognize that the purchase of a house is likely the largest purchase most people make in their lifetimes, so we strive to assure while also pointing out the risks of the transaction. Though the stakes involved in a business purchase or sale of real property is often just as high for our business clients, the pertinent legal issues can be very different (like due diligence, environmental contamination, and zoning), and so is the advice we give to our business clients.

Purchasing a house does not always work out. In the not too distant past, we found ourselves advising clients who owed more on their property than it was worth.

We have also assisted individual and business clients with leases. Residential and commercial leases are very different, and so are the landlord’s responsibilities as to each. We can help explain the instruments (both positive and negative elements) and prepare amendments to address or mitigate the risks.

We have also helped landlords with nettlesome tenants. As we perform our work on an hourly basis, if our client believes that he or she can secure the tenant’s ouster by default (the tenant does not fight the eviction), we advise our clients to use a lower cost alternative, like a law firm that will handle the unlawful detainer for a low flat fee.

We have helped commercial tenants hammer out problems with their landlords. Sometimes we are asked to send a letter to a landlord to remind him of his obligations under the lease. Other times we have been tasked with securing an extension, transfer, assignment, or even termination of the lease.

We have and continue to litigate real estate disputes, including failed purchases and construction defect or warranty claims. Many agreements and laws now limit how the dispute must be handled. Some require mediation before binding arbitration. Others permit action in the courts. While binding arbitration is often haled for its speed and limited cost, it has its downsides. Often the arbitrator’s decision cannot be challenged, even if it is legally or factually wrong. While the courts do not always correctly decide real estate disputes, there is the possibility that a higher court will correct the error. Whatever the forum, we can arbitrate or litigate real estate matters for our clients.